Andrew M. Friday

Category: procrastination

  • Writing Blog Roundup: dialogue tags, avoid procrastination, two pages, idiot characters, hero’s journey

    What I read this week in writing blogs: Help with dialogue tags. What about “he said”/”she said”—do you need them? Ten tips to help you avoid procrastination.  A couple of weeks ago I talked about this distracting world we live in and how procrastinating has been refined into an art form of sorts. Two pages…

  • Writing Blog Roundup: daily writing, character’s eyes, write description, using setting, breaking style

    Some blog articles on writing I’ve read lately: Daily Writing leads to better writing. Ideally, you’ll write every day . . . Seeing through your character’s eyes. Novelists are very familiar with the term POV, or point of view . . . How to write description that will delight your reader’s senses. NY Times Bestselling…

  • Writing Blog Roundup: Five on Five

    Twenty-five tips on writing: Five types of anti-heroes. So we’ve established that there is a difference between the hero and the anti-hero . . . Five traits of the successful author. I am off to THRILLERFEST in NYC, and I’m sure it will be thrilling….bada bump *snare* . . . Five writing habits that could…

  • Writing Blog Roundup: Wrong Advice, Plot Twist, Writer’s Block, Telling the Truth and Character’s Clothes

    Some blog articles I’ve read lately about writing: Words of advice from famous authors that are just wrong. I imagine this post is bound to draw some criticism, but bring it on! . . . Five ways to write a killer plot twist. I love plot twists. Mistaken identities, sneaky plans, sleight of hand—it’s all…

  • How does the Snowflake Method work?

    Now if you are not a math whiz, don’t let this scare you: The Snowflake Method of writing a novel follows the same idea of a fractal design that starts off small and builds up. It’s easier to understand if you see this visual. A snowflake is a fractal design and that is the whole…

  • Writing habits: try this, not that

    Writing habits: try this, not that

    In my last post, I strongly suggested that practicing writing every day was the big Secret to becoming a better writer. Now, I don’t want to imply that is the only habit to incorporate into a writing discipline. It may be the most important one, but other habits exist that a writer should address. I’ve…

  • No, seriously: how can I become a better writer?

    No, seriously: how can I become a better writer?

    I use to teach creative writing courses to adults. The excitement the people brought to the class inspired me. They wanted to be there. They had great ideas. They sought ways to become better writers. They seemed disappointed when I told them the Secret. I believe they expected me to pull out magic pills for…

  • Now that I don’t have a deadline . . .

    On Friday morning, November 30th, twelve and a half hours before midnight November 30th, I passed 50,000 for NaNoWriMo. My story is not finished. What is to keep me motivated? Well, besides being an interesting story to me, I need to set a deadline for myself. My goal is to finish the novel before midnight…

  • Toolkit for writing fiction

    Toolkit for writing fiction

    It’s midnight on November 1st and, even though it’s in the middle of the week and you have to go to work tomorrow, you stayed up to write your first sixteen hundred word quota for NaNoWriMo. You’ve thought out a dozen characters in your mind and you have a protagonist who is a thinly-veined version…